This thread has changed focus. I solved the problem I was having, and have posted a download for an easy-to-use, instantly ready 3DO/M2 development environment. See a couple posts below...

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Hey all... As I've dug more into 3DO development the last couple of weeks, I've spent a lot more time exploring the SDK. I believe I've been working off of the Portfolio 2.5 and Toolkit 1.3 all this time, and would like to upgrade to Toolkit 1.5.

The problem is, I think the copy I have (and every copy that I can otherwise track down) is either corrupt, or contains individual parts that are in some format I don't understand.

I have a couple different copies of Toolkit 1.5 -- one ISO, one .HFV file -- and both have the same problem. When I extract them, a lot of the executable files contained there-in are 0 bytes long. All of the documentation and source code files seem to be okay, but binary executables are 0 bytes.

I'm particularly interested in getting working copies of the following files:

The weird thing going on here is that I'm seeing the same problem with EVERY version of the Toolkit that I have (1.3, 1.4, 1.5), but I know for a fact that I have working versions of 1.3 already installed under Basilisk. So for the life of me, I can't figure out where those working versions came from, because I'm pretty sure I'm using the same .rar I originally found.

So yeah, any and all help would be appreciated!

As a side note, it's interesting how poorly documented the 3D capabilities of the 3DO are. All the 2D/sprite capabilities are EXTREMELY well documented in very usable, readable HTML docs. The 3D stuff is just a bunch of pretty random notes scattered around text and Word docs. On top of that, Toolkit 1.5 seems to be the first one that actually has tools for working with 3D models. AND Toolkit 1.5 has a completely rewritten 3D API. It seems like the 3D stuff was a total work-in-progress compared to the 2D stuff.

Also, did you know the 3DO uses quads instead of triangles for polygons? It didn't even occur to me before.

Last edited by Mobius on Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sheesh, I was up til like 2:30 last night trying to get this stuff figured out, then I spend an hour on it today and get it working.

I ended up needing a combination of a bunch of different things. I had an ISO of the Toolkit 1.5. I mounted that with Daemon Tools, but since it's Mac format, Windows doesn't recognize it. Then I installed MacDrive. That allowed me to read the mounted ISO. But that's where the filesizes are screwy. BUT, with MacDrive and Daemon Tools both running, I was able to run HFV_Explorer, and it immediately recognized the mounted drive as a Mac partition and read it all correctly.

From there, I was able to create a new .HFV file and copy the contents from the Mac partition to it. THAT copy was read correctly by Basilisk and now all is good.

Seriously, the SDK files that are floating around out there are pretty fubared. I think I will take the next few days (before my MacDrive trial ends) and get some clean HFV files for everyone that mount properly in Basilisk.

All of these are clean and working, so no mucking around with fixing busted .hfv and .iso files. I did that dirty work for you.

3DO Portfolio 2.5 and Toolkit 1.5 are preinstalled on "HDD." The rest of the drives are copies of the original CD-ROMs, so you can explore or install other versions if you want.

Running this should be as simple as can be:

1. Extract the .rar
2. Run BasiliskIIGUI.exe
3. On the "General" tab, update the path for the preferences file (this should be the directory you extracted to)
4. On the "Memory" tab, update the path to the PERFORMA.ROM file (again, in the directory you extracted to)
5. Click Run
6. Read the README on the desktop

It may complain it can't access your CD drive. There are drivers in the "CD-ROM Drivers" directory.

maybe you do something wrong, we are all working and we are free to create a program 3do. version of the toolkit 1.5 and portholio 2.5 fully working, there is a link to a minimum package The program of the established working version

modo wrote:maybe you do something wrong, we are all working and we are free to create a program 3do. version of the toolkit 1.5 and portholio 2.5 fully working, there is a link to a minimum package The program of the established working version

Hmm? Not sure I understand.

Yeah, these have been around for a while, but were not necessarily easy to get working. This download is for clean versions of everything that's currently available, and are already completely configured. It's a complete plug-and-play dev environment, basically.

Was there anything after Toolkit 1.5 and Portfolio 2.5? I'm guessing they might have been the last versions, but if there's anything newer, I'd love to see it. It looks like they were just starting to get the documentation of 3D stuff off the ground, so I'm hoping there's a later version with even more.

Other than that, I'd LOVE some of the asset CDs. I am not an artist.

On a side note, has anyone tried running the environment from the RAR I posted? Is it working okay?

Jones wrote:Are the 3D functions better documented and explained within the
Toolkit V1.5, compared to the Toolkit V1.3?

Yes, but "better" being relative. It went from zero documentation in 1.3 (that I could find) to a series of mostly unedited text and Word documents in 1.5. There's nothing like the great HTML-based documentation for all the 2D stuff.